The concept of Personal Safety Education
works to allow every child the right to feel safe all
the time, using a methodology that promotes the safety
of self against abuse. The program is an extension of
the safety rules we teach our children, that is, don't
play with fire, look both sides before and while
crossing the road etc. Besides empowering children to
take part in their own protection, it strengthens the
ability of those morally, socially and professionally
responsible for the protection of children, that is, the
State, parents, educators, and the larger community.

WHAT IS PERSONAL SAFETY?

Personal Safety is curriculum
designed to protect children from abuse,
specifically sexual abuse

Personal Safety empowers children
to take part in their own protection by giving
them age-appropriate information, skills, and
self-esteem.

Personal Safety teaches children
that their body belongs only to them and nobody
has the right to touch them in a way they don't
like or understand.

Personal Safety teaches children
to understand their emotions to help keep them
safe, using fear and anger in positive ways.

Personal Safety teaches
assertiveness skills, helping children to stand
up for their own rights without violating the
rights of others.

Personal Safety builds the
support system of each child, including the
family, school, community, and friends.

Personal Safety builds the
self-esteem of each child to empower them to
practice assertiveness skills for their own
protection.

Personal Safety builds empathy
for one another.

Personal Safety teaches children
that only the offender is to blame for any
inappropriate sexual touch.

SAFE TOUCH are those touches that are
experienced by the receiver (child) as warm,
caring, nurturing, and supportive. They do not
diminish the receiver and do not take from the
receiver. All persons need to receive this kind
of touch.

UNSAFE TOUCH
are those that hurt the receiver, that make the
receiver feel bad, that inflict pain or that
seem to disregard the receivers (child's)
feelings. It is usually very clear that the
child does not want this kind of touch, which is
experienced by the child as manipulative,
coercive, abusive, and frightening.

CONFUSING TOUCH
are those which make the receiver feel
uncomfortable, uneasy, confused, or unsure. The
receiver experiences confusion and conflicting
feelings about the touch and/or about the person
who does the touching. The intent of the adult
may be unclear, the touch may be unfamiliar.
There are times when this kind of attention
"feels good" but is also frightening, such as a
touch that is sexually stimulating, being asked
keep the experience a secret or being given
undue intimate attention in front of others.
Thus, the attention or touch that "feels good"
is not always good or safe.

Whether the touch or attention is
"safe" or "unsafe" or "confusing"
is determined by how the receiver experiences
it,
NOT by the intentions of the person giving the
attention of doing the touching. The adult may
intend the touch/attention to convey a certain
kind of message (support, affection, etc.) but
the message is entirely dependent upon how the
receiver perceives the touch/attention, and the
adults have no control over this. The adult's intentions are
irrelevant.